Papua New Guinea Economic Update, July 2020 : In the Time of COVID-19 - From Relief to Recovery
Papua New Guinea’s economy has been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis due to weaker demand and less favorable terms of trade. Pandemic-related global and national movement restrictions have weakened external and domestic demand and affected commodity...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/964591594230524376/Papua-New-Guinea-Economic-Update-In-the-Time-of-COVID-19-From-Relief-to-Recovery http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34079 |
| Summary: | Papua New Guinea’s economy has been hit
hard by the COVID-19 crisis due to weaker demand and less
favorable terms of trade. Pandemic-related global and
national movement restrictions have weakened external and
domestic demand and affected commodity prices, which will
lead to an economic contraction, wider financing gaps in the
external and fiscal accounts, and higher unemployment and
poverty than previously anticipated in 2020. The authorities
reacted swiftly to the emerging external shock by developing
a package of emergency health and economic relief measures.
While the focus of the authorities is currently on crisis
mitigation measures, they should also look beyond the
current year at a more robust and resilient recovery over
the medium term. In addition to the economic analysis, the
report contains additional sections dedicated to physical
infrastructure development in PNG. The infrastructure
section suggests that the provision of more equitable access
to quality infrastructure will be crucial once the country
moves to the recovery and resilience phase of COVID-19
response. While improving the quality of infrastructure in
PNG faces serious constraints, the country’s abundance of
natural resources is a potential source for financing the
work and government’s stated vision and strategy can provide
necessary policy guidance. |
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